


Would You Like Whip On That?

by niallsotp



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, Starbucks, cute fluff, harry and niall are roomies, harry is a uni student, louis is a barista, niall has a vanilla macchiato addiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 08:47:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2018649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallsotp/pseuds/niallsotp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Niall have an early Wednesday morning class and they need their coffee fix. Louis feeds their addiction.</p><p>Also known as, Five Times Louis Thinks Harry's Name is Niall and Three Times He Knows it's Not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Would You Like Whip On That?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lanceQ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanceQ/gifts).



 "And I mean I just really don't like whales. They freak me out. Killer whales are freaky with the black and white and don't even get me started on the teeth. And Blue whales? Fucking biggest animal on the entire planet. A small child can crawl through their arteries. No thank you."

Harry heard this snippet of dazzling information and looked up to see that it came from the _very_ cute Peter Pan look-a-like barista making Niall's Venti, extra hot, extra vanilla drizzle, Vanilla Macchiato, that he was waiting for before class. Harry himself was holding a Venti coffee, extra black like his (he'd like to think) soul. It amazed Harry how Niall could even drink all this sugar, but Niall is Niall and if he were a drink, there's no doubt extra sugar would be at the top of the impossibly long list of modifiers.  
"I have a Venti, extra hot, extra drizz, vanilla Macchiato for Niall!" Peter Pan called out. Harry reached forward to grab it and noticed the chalkboard nametag the barista was wearing. It had the name LOUIS! Written in chalk marker with a smiley face at the end, acting as more of a punctuation than the exclamation point ever could. Harry smiled in spite of himself and walked out, not noticing the tiny, feathery haired boy looking at the back of Harry's unwashed hair stuffed in a beanie (early class equals no shower, okay?) and frowning a bit.

*****

"Hey mate! Aw, you remembered my drink," Niall side-hugged Harry as he slid into the chair next to his best friend.

"I didn't remember it so much as I saved the text you sent me once because it's complicated as _shite_ , mate," Harry replied, taking a sip of his bitter, un-processed un-sugared coffee.

"Say what you want, this is the best drink in the world," Niall tipped his cup towards Harry's as if to say cheers, and downed half of it in one go.

Harry sighed. Wednesday mornings were going to be brutal.

 

* * *

 

Next Wednesday saw Harry waiting in line behind two people, one who ordered a drink longer than Niall's and another who couldn't decide which breakfast sandwich he wanted. Personally, Harry would have gone with the Bacon and Gouda, but Customer Number Two couldn't decide between the Ham Artisan or the Slow-Roasted Ham and Swiss, and Harry zoned out looking at the gift cards. He thought about getting Niall one as a joke, since Niall had as many gift cards for Starbucks as there were gift cards to be purchased. He always whipped one out of his wallet for Harry to use before they left their flat. It had become their routine of sorts, Harry nipping to Starbucks for their caffeine fix and Niall heading to class to snag good seats (in the back of course, far away from the learning as possible so they could goof off and doodle on each other's notes) and this somehow made Wednesday mornings more bearable. Harry was debating between a glittered Starbucks card in the shape of a cup or a very bright HAPPY BIRTHDAY when the extremely bright and shiny barista (who finally made a decision for Customer Number Two: Slow Roasted Ham and Swiss) asked what she could get started for him.

Harry blinked and rattled off Niall's drink, proud of himself for saying it in the right order (finally) and then ordered his large black coffee. And yes, he did say a _large_ coffee. He ignored when Brittani (definitely with an "I" according to her own chalkboard name tag) corrected him by saying a _Venti_ coffee with no room and paid with one of Niall's signature gift cards. As he shuffled over to collect Niall's drink he almost got run over by Mr. Ham and Swiss as said man rushed out the door, and spilled a bit of coffee on his new pea coat. Harry blew out a large puff of air, shifting his hair up and to the right. He followed the direction of his hair and noticed the cute barista with bright blue eyes was waiting at the end of the counter to hand him Niall's drink.  
Louis' twinkling eyes looked right into Harry's before saying, "Niall…" in a questioning voice. Harry just nodded, too embarrassed to say anything as he would probably stutter and reached for the cup, and if their fingers brushed while he was curling his hand around the warm drink then neither of them acknowledged it. At least not vocally. Harry blushed, nodded once more and left swiftly, his own coffee sloshing out of the top of the plastic lid once again, this time scalding his thumb.

*****

"You're a bit late today," Niall whispered when Harry plopped into his saved seat, shoving Niall's backpack to the ground.

"Sorry," Harry apologized, setting the cups on the table so he could reach underneath his chair to retrieve Niall's bag.

"You're also a bit flustered, cute new barista or something?" Niall teased, grabbing the bag Harry was holding up for him to take.

Harry came up a bit red in the face and avoided eye contact with the blonde.

"Oh my god, there _is_ a new barista, isn't there?" Niall whisper-shouted, his clear blue eyes going wide.

"If it makes you hush up, yes," Harry hissed back. "Now let's focus on class and I'll tell you about it later."

Niall turned back to the teacher, took a sip of his drink and smirked.

 

* * *

 

The third Wednesday Harry was definitely in what one called a _queue_. Brittani (surprise, surprise) was calling down the line, asking people what she could get started for them today. Harry found this ironic, as she seemed so excited to ask them what she could get started, and yet she never touched the cup after marking their drink down. She got to Harry, flashed her blinding smile and said, "Venti Vanilla Macchiato with extra drizzle, right?"

"And extra hot," Harry murmured. It was nippy outside, being the beginning of fall, and those little green stoppers only do so much on windy days. She smiled brightly (the girl shone brighter than the sun, he was convinced) and took a bit longer on his cup than last Wednesday.

Despite the amazing amount of customers waiting for their drinks, Louis still managed to make eye contact when he called out Niall's name in the sing-song-shout-y way most baristas do. Both boys smiled as bright as Brittani, and had there not been a man reaching for his latte effectively pushing Harry out of the way, he would have something witty and brilliant like, "Hello".

*****

When Harry looked at the cup sitting by Niall's binder he finally remembered that Brittani scribbled something else on it besides Niall's name. It ended up being a very excited smiley face made out of exclamation points. He couldn't help but notice that it one, did _not_ match the smiley face that was on Louis' nametag and two, how pleased that made him.

 

* * *

 

 

The fourth Wednesday of the semester was extremely cold and bitter and Harry was later than normal getting his and Niall's coffee. Brittani was a shining star on register once again, but his Peter Pan barista was nowhere to be seen. Harry was a bit disappointed, okay _a lot_ disappointed, and even Brittani frowned and asked if he was okay. He was pretty sure he responded appropriately, a small grunt would have sufficed to be honest, but he was sullen as he trudged over to get Niall's drink.

*****

Harry spent most of class with his beanie-covered head on the table with Niall poking him every five minutes or so. When he finally looked up to glare at the offending finger, he saw the heart next to Niall's name, which looked exactly like the heart dotting Brittani's "I's".  He just glared at the bubbly symbol that he assumed Brittani drew to make him feel better (Note to Brittani: it did _not_ ) and put his head back on the table. Niall annoyingly guessed the reason he was so put out and spent the rest of class teasing him about it. Harry was glad it started to rain on the way home from class. Then he had an actual reason to be miserable (his new converse were completely soaked, although he would be happy about this later because now they wouldn't be stark white anymore) instead of wondering why he didn't see a certain feathery haired boy that morning.

 

* * *

 

The next week was strangely sunny and Brittani-free. Some hip guy with an extremely perfect, if a bit large, beard was manning the register. Harry was secretly glad that he was taking orders and wouldn't be making Niall's drink, but before he could even get out Niall's order that Hip Guy With the Perfect Beard wouldn't be making, Louis whizzed over and said, "I got this one, Mark." Harry noted that Hip Guy With the Perfect Beard's nametag did indeed say MARK, in very non-descript capital letters. Mark just nodded and Harry got his coffee before heading over to Louis.

"Niall!" The cute little barista with extremely feathery hair and a nametag with a perfect smiley face that had somehow memorized Niall's crazily complicated drink shouted out. Otherwise known as Louis, dictated by his nametag with a perfect smiley face. But Harry wasn't one to use first names with people he hadn't even exchanged one word with.

"Erm, thanks," Harry murmured.

"You're quite welcome, Niall, the tall boy with curly hair and gorgeous green eyes who never tips," Louis replied cheekily.

Harry opened his mouth to tell Louis that his name was _not Niall_ , but in fact, _Harry_ , when a tiny adorable girl came rushing up to the counter and squealed, "Lou bear!" Her smile rivaled Brittani's. Harry smirked briefly at the nickname.

"Morning love," Louis said with a wink. Harry noticed the wink was more in his direction than the bubbly girl next to him. Harry turned to leave and promised himself that next Wednesday, he would set Louis straight. So to speak.

"See you next Wednesday, Niall?" Louis nodded to Harry.

"Er, yeah," Harry replied, and almost walked into the door on his way out, a stupid blush forming on his pale cheeks.

*****

It wasn't until halfway through class that Harry noticed a smiley face next to Niall's name. He also noticed that it was exactly the same as the one on Louis' nametag. Niall teased him about it for a whole two days.

 

* * *

 

Brittani was back next Wednesday, and already had Niall's drink written down and Harry's coffee waiting for him as soon as Harry walked in the door. Harry nodded in thanks and even put a dollar in the tip jar, the one that said Sweaters as opposed to Shorts. Harry walked down the length of the bar, keeping an eye on the feathery haired barista, who was moving like he had six arms this morning. There were cups lined up along the length of the bar and Hip Guy With the Perfect Beard, Mark, Harry remembered, was helping Louis on other, usually empty, espresso machine.

Harry had memorized how Niall's drink was made (it may or may not have been an excuse for him to stare at Louis without the boy noticing that he was staring) and just as Louis was about to call out that he had a Vanilla Macchiato for him, known by Louis as Niall, Harry blurted out, "my name's _Harry_." Louis paused, mouth partway open and retracted the cup that was halfway thrust towards the taller boy, staring at it as if Harry was written there instead.

Louis nodded slowly. "Suits you more, I'd say," and raised the drink to his eye level so he could scribble on it.

"And you're Louis," Harry stated boldly.

Louis looked down to his friendly nametag and nodded as if to say, why yes, my name is Louis, as indicated by the nametag I'm forced to wear.

"And you're afraid of whales, right?" Harry continued.

Louis raised a curious eyebrow but took it in stride. "Not _all_ whales, Harold, just-"

"Killer whales and blue whales." Harry interrupted.

"Exactly." Louis nodded in triumph while finally relinquishing Niall's drink to Harry.

"And you know this how...?" Louis just had to ask, that quizzical brow still raised.

Harry blushed to the roots of his windswept curls and replied, "you may have mentioned it a few weeks back. Your particular distaste for certain types of whales."

"It's not a _distaste_ ; it's more of an irrational fear. But same difference, Harry, the tall boy with curly hair and gorgeous green eyes who never tips." Louis said with a wink, this week Harry was positive it was for him.

"Oi! I tipped today, put a dollar in the cube for sweaters," Harry pouted.

"I _knew_ you were a sweater bloke," Louis smiled triumphantly.

Mark bumped Louis' elbow and in his gruff voice said, "Wanna help me out, mate?"

Louis immediately grabbed a cup, looked at the ridiculous markings down the side and started to pour some milk into a pitcher.

"See you next Wednesday?" Harry had to ask as he was halfway turned to the door.

"I'll be here," Louis said, a twinkle in those amazing deep blue eyes.

*****

This time Harry looked at the cup right away. Niall (with another heart mirroring Brittani's name tag next to it) was crossed out, the heart a bit violently so, Harry thought, and Harold was written in hasty letters along with a fast smiley face. The same smiley face that was on Niall's cup last week. Harry may or may not have saved the cup. Niall may or may not have teased him about it for the rest of the week.

 

* * *

 

It was halfway through the semester and midterms were due. Both Harry and Niall had pulled an all-nighter finishing their partner project and decided to skip the coffee that morning, instead choosing to get to class early to drop off their projects and then go back to their flat and consequently, bed.

"D'ya think we passed?" Niall asked sleepily.

"We better or my mum's gonna take me out of school," Harry yawned.

"Yeah, we passed," Niall mumbled before promptly passing out.

Harry fell asleep to Niall's snores.

*****

Louis spent the entire morning looking for a certain curly haired lad with bright green eyes that always brightened when he saw that Louis was working. He was testy when the entire morning went by and there was no sign of Harry who was once known as Niall. Louis slammed the pitcher he just rinsed on the metal counter, making it bounce a bit before settling.

"Damn, Louis. That's the third time you've done that. Annoyed, are you?" Brittani asked. Louis just glared at her.

"He's just annoyed because his boyfriend didn't come in today," Mark said sagely while moving to fill a cup of coffee.

"Oh my god, you have a boyfriend? Why didn't you tell me! Who is it?" Brittani squealed, causing both Louis and Mark to wince.

"He's _not_ my boyfriend, Mark. He's just…he comes in a lot and we have a thing, okay? It's not like it's going anywhere," Louis explained.

"Whatever. He wants you back, in case you were wondering," Mark said.

Louis whirled around, causing the drink he was about to hand out spill out the top of the lid. He turned back to the customer to hand off their cappuccino before whirling around back to Mark.

"What?" Louis asked.

"What, what?" Mark said back.

"What do you mean, 'he wants me back', Mark," Louis clarified.

"Dude, I'm just saying that he acts like Liz did when we were first going out. He always looks at you when you're not looking back and he blushes every time you hand him his drink," Mark said casually while taking a customer's Gold Card and swiping it before asking if they needed their receipt.

Louis' mouth dropped open.

"Are you serious? What? Are you sure?" Louis didn't want to be annoying but he needed to know if Harry was into him, because reasons.

Mark just rolled his eyes and nodded as he helped the next customer in line.

Brittani was watching this entire exchange with wide eyes and finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Who is this boy? Is he a regular? Which one is he?" She asked.

Louis couldn't answer, completely focused on the drink he was making, a Grande triple soy latte, and was staring at the steaming milk in silent amazement, shaking his head.

"Tell me! I want to know who this guy is!" Brittani was right next to Louis, breaking him out of his reverie.

"Britt leave him alone, you have customers," Mark gave her a hard look and she rolled her eyes while walking back to the register.

Louis mouthed a, "thank you" to Mark and the bearded man just nodded while filling another cup of coffee.

Louis spent the rest of his shift compiling a list of things that would be deemed appropriate to write on one's Starbucks Crush's cup.

 

* * *

 

Harry did not want to get out of bed that morning. He definitely didn't want Niall poking him in his dimples until he snapped and threw his pillow at the laughing blonde. He grudgingly got up and threw a beanie over his extra curly hair, shoved his feet in his now perfectly distressed converse and grabbed his freshly dry-cleaned pea coat. He was still shoving his arms into the sleeves when Niall slipped a new Starbucks card into his pocket.

"What's this, then?" Harry pulled it out, admiring the shiny gold plastic.

"It's me gold card! I got it in the post yesterday," Niall beamed.

Harry turned it over and noticed that it said: Niall Horan. Member since 2014.

"Look at you, being all fancy and official," Harry teased.

Niall just rolled his eyes and called over his shoulder, "Just be sure you use it, I want my free drink. See you in a bit!"

Harry found himself looking for Louis even before he touched the handle of the door. He saw him flitting around the bar, handing out drinks with a brilliant smile. He smiled in spite of himself and only went inside after a businessman, who was clearly rushing to work, decided to hold the door open for him.

Waiting in line Harry noticed that Mark was taking orders today, Brittani was nowhere to be seen, and he felt bad that he was happy she wasn't around.

"Sup, mate. Getting your usual?" Mark asked in his deep, just-woke-up-and-haven't-talked-except-for-taking-orders voice.

"Erm, yeah, thanks," Harry murmured. He waited for his coffee and fiddled with the gold card Niall had given him. Mark held his hand out for the card and let out a low whistle.

"Finally made it then, did you? Took you long enough," Mark gave him a wink before swiping it.

"I didn't even know it was a thing! My roommate got it in the post yesterday. He said to make sure that I use it so he gets his free drink?" Harry said, both parts exasperated and confused.

Mark guffawed and handed Harry back Niall's card.

"Yeah, it's a point system. Every purchase equals one star. So after twelve purchases, he gets a free drink. Although you have to get thirty stars first. Have you been cheating on us, Harold?" Louis had appeared out of nowhere to explain this bit of information to him and Harry blushed.

"I haven't been cheating on you! He really likes his Vanilla Macchiatos…" Harry trailed off as both Mark and Louis started laughing. He did notice that Louis was a bit more red than Mark, though.

"I'm just messing with you, mate. Here's your friend's precious drink," Louis handed him Niall's cup, his smile sending Harry's heart into panic mode.

"Thanks," Harry blushed as their fingers brushed for the second time (yes, he was counting, what of it) and nodded to Mark and Louis.

"So we'll see you next week, then?" Louis asked hopefully.

"Oh I'll definitely be back. If only to get a free drink for myself," Harry said with a wink.

"You don't need a gold card for a free drink," Louis winked back.

Harry definitely managed to walk into the door this time.

*****

Niall noticed the phone number first and laughed out loud in class for a good minute before their teacher asked if he needed to leave the room. He toned it down, but he still chuckled every so often and every time he did Harry blushed bright red. He had taken a picture as soon as he set the cup down in case Niall threw it away before he could write it down.

 

From: **Harry**

**Hi LOUIS! :)**

To: **Harry** From: _LOUIS! :)_

 _Hello_ , _tall boy with curly hair and gorgeous green eyes_ _who now has my number ;)_

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyy so I've had this as a one shot for a while and I've finally just finished it (ironically at Starbucks, where I work) and I wanted to post it cuz my life now revolves around Starbucks so of course I wrote about Larry as a coffeeshop AU. It's also 2:45 am and I am le tired. You can ignore this. Have a good night/morning/midday/afternoon! xx Hanna :)


End file.
